Fires without some Fallout
by scrapingskies
Summary: Steve Rogers was prepared for everything after witnessing the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D and the return of a friend he had once believed to be dead. What he wasn't expecting was for a thief to knock out all the electricity in Avengers Tower. What he also wasn't expecting the culprit behind it to be a fourteen-year-old girl with a few issues of her own (father-Daughter fic) (No pairings).
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I've had the idea for this story for awhile, and I'm happy to finally to be writing it! This doesn't really have many pairings (probably) in it, I'm not that interested in romance honestly. I'm more interested in exploring a father daughter relationship between Steve Rogers and my OC. She won't have a major effect on the main plot of the MCU or anything, just think of her as a side story or something.**

 **I'll try an update around twice a week, but no promises!**

* * *

 **/ Part 1 \\\**

 **Rolling Through the Blackout**

* * *

 _Undisclosed base on Nunivak Island, Alaska_

 _2012_

The girl could be no older than ten, but looked nothing like the average ten year old. She was standing stock still, although her skinny frame was shaking ever-so-slightly, either from cold or from fear or from both. Her soaking wet black hair stuck to her sepia-coloured skin and there were still drops of ice-cold water dripping from her nose and eyelashes. The clothes she was wearing did nothing to warm her up. The black t-shirt and leggings were also equally as drenched as the rest of her, leaving her to shudder in her boots.

The room she was standing in had no central heating or anyway to warm up her at all. It was located a couple feet below the surface and was a musky grey-green colour that smelt like damp constantly as well being filled with the constant noise of water dripping from rusting drain pipes.

Despite the unwelcoming atmosphere of the base, it was filled with ten or so other people, excluding the girl. Five of those people were men dressed in military uniform, holding guns and were attentively looking around, cautious of the slightest, unwanted movement. Two more of the men also had guns, but they were wedged in their belts, and they were instead tightly gripping the shoulders of the little girl so she couldn't move.

One of the men was holding a clipboard and wearing a white coat, and was dressed similarly but was taking notes on something that the girl didn't care about. Another man was carrying a white bag with contents that seemed to unnerve the ten-year-old, as she would constantly glance back at it with a look of apprehension and fear.

Finally, the last man in the room was obviously the one in charge. He also wore military uniform, but had plenty of important looking badges pinned on his chest, as well as not being armed. His brown hair was neatly styled and put into place and his pale complexion made his brown eyes seem to pop out of his skull in a strange way, and he looked down at the girl with a distastful look.

"Get the girl a coat," he snarled to one of the armed guards, "she looks pathetic."

One of the armed soldiers nodded and marched down the corridor.

"Do you know why I'm here, Eden?" He asked her.

The little girl nodded but did not speak.

"I am very, _very_ disappointed in this. I thought we were done with these times, you are not a child anymore." He shook his head.

His statement didn't make much sense, considering she was a child, but it was not Eden's place to correct him.

"I'm sorry, sir," she whispered, though her surprisingly thick New Yorkian accent slipped through.

"Did I give you permission to talk?" He snapped, "you're job was to infiltrate the base and steal the files, why was that so difficult for you to do?"

She hung her head and said nothing more, knowing her place.

"Now, thanks to you, I have one hell of a mess to cover up," he shook his head, "what went wrong? Had you learnt the layout of the building?"

She nodded.

"And the positions of each guard?"

She nodded again.

"And you knew exactly where the plans were?"

She nodded for the third time.

"Then why did I have to fly all the way over to this crappy island to find out that our top asset had failed her mission," he glowered down at her, "if I had half a brain I would call your step-father over here so he could deal with you."

The man let the threat hand there, getting a strange sort of satisfaction to see the fear in the girl's muddy-green eyes increase at the mention of her step-father.

"Colonel Ivanov," said the soldier who he had sent away earlier to get the girl a coat.

He was holding a brown, oversized jacket and the colonel took it off of him. He then chucked it at the girl, who caught it and put it on but did not look grateful.

"This failure had left me with no choice, Eden," he sighed, "we will have to inject you, it seems the effects are wearing off."

Eden ceased up and began shaking her head, "no, no, no, please. I'll do better next time, I'll never mess again, sir, I promise."

The colonel shook his head, "I'm afraid it's too late, you're lucky we don't put you through weekly injections." He began to walk down the corridor, the two guards roughly shoving Eden along with them.

One white-coated scientist was muttering something to another and the other nodded. Eden didn't hear what they had said, she hadn't been listening either.

"Aliens are falling from the sky, Eden," said the Colonel just before they entered the lab, "we're seeing wormholes into space and big green men smashing up buildings. The world his changing, everyone is more confused and more scared then ever. It's time the government showed them that there's nothing to fear, and you, Eden, are going to help us with that."

* * *

 _Stark Tower, New York_

 _2012_

"The clear-up seems to be going well," mused the man, "and the repair work on the tower is almost complete, I see."

He was a middle-aged man with blonde hair that was greying around the hairline. Despite his pale complexion, he had very dark eyes and wore a completely black suit accompanied with a black tie. He sat in the office, his posture stiff and stern.

"Though, I suspect it won't be long until some _unwanted_ parties get their hand on that tech," he glanced to the side.

The man who sat opposite him seemed a lot more relaxed, and had his feet propped up on the table in front of him as he spoke.

"We've ensured that all outside parties had no contribution to the clean-up," the words sounded intelligent, but the man saying them seemed to be far too easy-going, "if they've got their hand on the tech, then they don't have much."

"I'd be wary, Mr Stark," the man shook his head, "you never know."

Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man by the general public, shook his head as though he were amused by it all. "Do you have kids, Mr Secretary?"

Secretary of Defense, Robert Riley, nodded, "I have _a_ kid, why do you ask?"

"You strike me as the fatherly type, bet your kid loves you."

Secretary Riley smiled to himself, as though this were a hilariously ridiculous statement. "I don't see her very often, work keeps me busy."

"Well then why are we here having this conversation?" Tony stood up at the same time as Riley, and slung an arm around him. "You're wasting time talking about the clean-up, which I know you and your people don't care about. So, why are we here when I could be working on my suits and you could be spending time with that daughter of yours."

Still, Riley's face remained humoured whenever Stark brought up his daughter. Not that Tony could see what was so funny about it, the secretary was a secretive man.

"I was sent here by the president himself, actually," Riley said to Tony, "he had a few qualms with the scepter being placed into the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D, he doesn't believe it's safe there."

Tony looked at him, "I don't have a say in what goes on at S.H.I.E.L.D. I may be an Avenger, but I've also got Stark Industries and the New York clean-up to deal with. The scepter and whatever Fury wants to do with is none of my business."

"But you're curious," pointed out Riley.

"Of course I'm curious," Tony snorted, "I'm Tony Stark, I stick my nose into everyone's business. So, tell me," he patted the secretary's shoulder, "why is the president worried about the scepter?"

"He believes that there is a research division that would be better dedicated to researching it than S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Oh, yeah?"

When Riley didn't say anything else, Tony prompted him.

"Who is this 'research division?' Why does the president trust them more than he trusts S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"I'm afraid I can't disclose that information to you, Mr Stark."

"Then why bother to ask?" He sounded annoyed.

"All we wanted to know is whether you knew the location of the scepter and what S.H.I.E.L.D is doing with it."

"Shouldn't you know this?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D had refused to give us any information until they come up with more conclusive results."

"Right," said Stark, taking out his tablet and swiping through it, a way of making himself look more occupied, "well, I can't help you. I've got bigger things to worry about."

"Well, I'm sorry to bore you with this business," Secretary Riley said, "I'll be on my way now."

Just at that moment, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out, glancing at the caller I.D. He sighed and shook his head, picking up the call. The man down the phone told him something, and he nodded. Stark watched in a vague sort of interest as the frustrated look on Riley's face grew as the phone call continued. When he was done, he let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.

"Well, thank you for informing me, Colonel," he said to the man down the line, "I'll be there in a bit."

"Trouble at work?" Asked Tony.

"I'm afraid so," Riley patted him on the back, "it was good to see you, Tony."

"It was good to see you too, Rob," grinned the Stark.

The two friends split off and, once he was sure Tony was out of earshot, Robert Riley picked up the phone again and muttered something to Colonel Ivanov down the line.

"I'll be there in five hours."

* * *

"Secretary Riley," greeted the colonel, "I trust your meeting with Stark went well?"

The secretary of defense snorted in amusement, "not at all, he had no idea where the damn scepter is. Turns out that S.H.I.E.L.D is too damn cryptic with everyone these days. The president's not too happy with all of this."

"We'll figure it out," assured Ivanov, "there are only so many shield bases."

Riley looked doubtful and chose to change the topic.

"And what of the asset?" He asked the colonel, "did she fail the mission?"

"She was caught by the Russians, stupid girl," he shook his head, "we weren't able to get the codes, so it's another failure. Girl was lucky when the Russian guards decided she was just some harmless brat, otherwise the entire operation would've been blown."

Riley frowned, "have you re-injected her yet?"

"The doctors are preparing her now," he told him, "the procedure should begin in a few moments. We were just waiting for your arrival."

The two began to walk down the long, dingy, badly lit corridor, but the conversation still continued.

"This is the first time she's failed a mission in two years," Ivanov went on, "the abilities the serum gave her aren't wearing off but the side effects have almost completely disappeared."

"We already know that the side effects completely wear off after around a year," Riley shook his head, "are you worried she's becoming too emotional?"

"I'm thinking that we should start doing monthly injection," Ivanov said.

"We don't have enough serum or the budget to do that," Riley pointed out.

"Then we start injecting others. Forget the girl, she's only a child, she's always going to be weaker than any one she ever goes up against, no matter how many skills we teach her."

"Her body is the only one that has accepted the serum without-" he looked for the words, "unfortunate consequences… This research division is small enough as it is, we can afford to lose more men to the serum."

Ivanov sighed, "then we'll just have to hope that this _failure_ is the last one she makes."

Riley nodded and the two of them reached a metal door at the end of the corridor. Ivanov punched the code into the keypad beside it, and the heavy door slowly opened by itself, allowing both of the men inside.

This room was of great contrast to the room outside. It was almost completely white, with blinding lights that glared down at the floor. It had several desks along with several, large computer screens, each with a picture of the seal of the United States as the desktop. Scientists, doctors and soldiers littered the room, each busying themselves with different tasks. The sounds of keyboard taps and footsteps made the room seem very crowded and noisy, but Riley did not seem to take much notice. There were plenty of chairs and monitoring screens showing medically significant things, like heart rate that Riley ignored. Instead, he walked towards a window made from one way glass, meaning whoever was on the other side couldn't see Riley or Colonel Ivanov.

On the other side seemed something that was more like a lab. There were monitoring screens in there too, along with tables that were overflowing with different chemical substances and scientific equipment. There were two scientists in there too, each with a surgical mask covering their mouth as they hurried away preparing something or another.

The girl was in there too. Eden had been cleaned up, her hair was now dry and she was back wearing warm clothes. But the anxious face still remained, her back pressed against the wall as she watched them work through frantic expression in her muddy-green eyes.

The first doctor stood up straight and began signalling to a guard standing in the corner of the room, saying something that Riley couldn't hear.

"Turn on the sound," he ordered, "I want to hear what's going on in there."

Surely enough, someone turned on the sound and the noise coming from across the glass was audible. They could hear the sounds of footsteps as the soldiers went to grab Eden, who attempted to flinch away from them, but didn't put up much fight.

"Hold her head still," said one of the doctors, brandishing a needle, "make sure her neck doesn't move."

One of the soldiers adjusted their hold on the girl, who they easily dwarfed in terms of both height and weight, she could hardly do anything to them.

However, once they had twisted her neck and the doctor was approaching her, something surprising happened.

Eden maneuvered her hand so she was gripping one of the soldier's wrist. Then, with one hand, she violently twisted it in an action that was so violent that the soldier let out a cry of pain and let go of her.

Instantly, she squeezed away from him and kicked him in the back of the knees so he fell to the ground. The other soldier made a lunge for her, but she seemed to know exactly what he was going to do before he had even moved, and charged straight into him with all her might, elbowing him in the stomach and brutally landing a solid kick in the gut that the man doubled over and fell to the ground.

At this point, the first soldier had gotten to his feet but was met with a tiny fist in his face that didn't make much of an impact but gave Eden a sufficient amount of time so she could move out of the reach of the soldiers and the doctor.

"Get backup in there, _now_!" Snapped Colonel Ivanov to several other guards in the room.

Secretary Riley continued to watch, still slightly impressed at the girl's skills. It was apparent that, even though she hadn't been re-injected in over six months, the abilities the serum had given her were still there.

As more guys poured into the room, Eden's terror only seemed to increase, and Riley wasn't sure if that made her less or more dangerous. As five more guards crowded around her, she dropped to the floor and kicked the legs of two of the soldiers, causing them to trip. Other hands attempted to grab her, but she grabbed them and bent back the fingers on some of them, not stopping until she heard a satisfying crack.

However, in all the confusion, what she didn't seem to pick up was a soldier behind her, suddenly grabbing her by the ear and jabbing the needle the doctor was holding earlier into her neck.

The girl let out a high pitched scream of pain before collapsing to the ground, shuddering and shaking in a seizure-like manner. She had stopped screeching, but her mouth still formed an 'o' shape as she seemed to let out a long, silent screen whilst her body contorted in strange, awful ways.

Then, she fell still and silent. She wasn't unconscious or dead; she was fully awake. She was breathing heavily, staring up at the ceiling with wide, unseeing eyes, her eyes on either side of her, palms pressing down of the floor as though she were trying to break it.

She stayed like that for a couple of minutes as doctor's ushered away injured soldiers and got themselves sorted. One of them carelessly lifted Eden onto a nearby table, but she did not move or fight back.

Finally, Riley moved, heading towards the door; Colonel Ivanov was only a couple steps in front of him.

"Eden," said the Colonel.

Instantly, the girl shot up into a sitting position on the table and turned to look at the Colonel.

All sense of fear, pain and anger in the girl's eyes had vanished, replaced by an almost expressionless face that looked around the room idly, taking a moment to get her bearings.

"How are you feeling?" The Colonel asked.

Eden did not reply, she just nodded, as though it were an appropriate answer to the question. Ivanov accepted it anyway.

"Do you feel the same?" He asked.

"My abilities are the same, sir," came the girl's shockingly monotonous reply, though the strong New Yorkian accent remained.

"I mean emotionally," Ivanov explained.

"I don't feel, sir," she said, looking at him with no hint or bitterness as she said the words. The blank, expressionless look on her face would've looked strange enough on an adult, but it looked even worse on a ten-year-old.

"Good," he grinned, "your stepfather is here to see you."

Riley stepped out into the light, "Eden," he greeted, "I heard of you're failed mission."

The girl did not reply, nor did she show any signs of any sort of emotion. Earlier, when the Colonel had mentioned her father, she had shown great fear. Now, she showed nothing but a blank face and glassy, detached eyes.

"However, I do believe your performance will be more enhanced after this re-injection. I know how much you hate it, but you need to learn to cooperate with us more."

"I am no longer emotionally compromised," said the girl, "I will cooperate, sir."

"Good, that's what I like to hear," Riley grinned, a twisted grin, "now, I have a new mission for you in the morning. It will involve you travelling to Jura Mountain Range to a S.H.I.E.L.D research station, I trust your french is good?"

"Yes, sir," she replied, unblinking and uncaring.

"Good, now get some rest, you've got a busy few months."

* * *

 **A/N: Haha, I'm not sure if I like this first chapter or not but whatever. I've been looking forward to writing this story. Just to let you know, after this we're gonna be skipping ahead to the period just after Winter Soldier and Iron Man 3 and all those movies, but before Age of Ultron. We'll follow Eden's story through there and, well, we'll see what happens. I think I do want to be sticking to canon mainly, this story is gonna be more of character exploration as well as giving me a chance to write unconventional father-daughter relationships, because that's the sort of stuff that keeps me interested.**

 **Please review! It's always helpful!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who left a review last chapter!**

* * *

 _Nunivak Island, Alaska_

 _One mile North of Base_

 _2014_

The base was located around the centre of Nunivak Island, a small island just off the coast of Alaska, and was generally surrounded by a stony area nicknamed by those who worked at the base as the 'stone fields.' There were native Cup'it Eskimos living on the island, but they lived around coastal areas and relied on fishing and hunting. There was also a small 'city,' Mekoryuk, consisting of only around two hundred people.

The Stone Fields were an impossible place to live. The land was infertile, there was little food or plants or any kind of animals. Most of the island was uninhabitable, there was even a lava bed located somewhere on the island. The stone fields were actually formed from lava from volcanic eruptions years ago.

But Eden Quill Lewis was not worried about that right now. Sure, she might be half-dead and staggering through the desolate landscape of Nunivak Island, but she was not going to die nor was she going to fail.

Failure would mean injection, and she definitely did not want that.

It would be a strange sight to see, if anyone was around to see it. A thirteen-year-old was practically dragging herself across an unforgiving landscape whilst also lugging a heavy sleigh, loaded with even heavier looking bags. She had studied cultures where dogs had to pull sleighs across snow or something. She wished she had that. But she had no snow and no dogs.

She looked at the map in her hand and glanced down at her compass. If she kept heading north, she would hit the base at some point. She didn't have far to go, she was sure of it. Maybe two miles, maybe even one.

How she had ended up dragging a sleigh full of alien weapons wasn't too long a story. She had been sent on a mission to investigate an abandoned base halfway across the island that they had picked up on their scanners, supposedly containing alien materials, which she had also had to bring back. Colonel Ivanov hadn't known that, in fact, the base was not abandoned and was in fact a HYDRA safehouse, one of the last standing. She had taken out the few soldiers she had found there, before finding their weapons and running towards the helicopter which she had been flown over here in. However, she had missed one of the soldiers, who had chosen to blow up the helicopter along with the pilot with some sort of alien grenade launcher. Eden had put three bullets in his head before taking the weapon off of his corpse, placing it on a sleigh along with all the other stuff she had found and taking the fifteen mile trek back to the base in freezing weather.

"Shouldn't have took the damn weapons," she muttered to herself, "should've just ran straight to Mekoryuk the moment the helicopter got destroyed. Stolen a boat and gone back to America, better than this shithole."

But it was a stupid idea, Colonel Ivanov would know she had ran and he would go looking for her. Even worse, Riley would come looking for her, and that was the last thing she wanted. She couldn't even remember that much about America or her old home back in New York. Hell, she struggled to picture her own mother's face.

"Am I old enough to retire from slavery yet?" She chuckled to herself humorlessly.

So, she towed the sleigh across the land. Hoping and praying that she would be back soon. Different scenarios were running through her head. One was when she got back and Colonel Ivanov was pleased with her work and told her she could take a break. The other one was where Ivanov would be angry at her for losing the helicopter and would call in Riley to talk to her. Then, they would pin her to the ground and re-inject her.

She shuddered at that thought. Since 2012, she had only had been re-injected three times. Once back when she had failed to retrieve files from a mission in Russia. Again when she had been knocked unconscious by a drug dealer's thug and failed the mission. And, the most recent re-injection had only been seven months ago, and she'd got it after she had back-talked to Riley on one of his _gracious_ visits.

Luckily, the side effects of the serum were beginning to fade. The core of her _abilities_ never wore off, however the injection did have an unfortunate side effect of rendering her almost incapable of emotion of any sort, making her a mindless puppet to be controlled. It would wear off after six months, but that didn't make the experience any more joyful.

The click of a gun in the distance drew her out of her thoughts.

Any normal human wouldn't have been able to hear it. But Eden did.

' _Thank God,'_ she thought as she began to pick up the sounds of people walking over the hill towards her but then suddenly felt a jolt in her stomach when she realised that she was returning to what was basically a prison.

Around five minutes later, a group of around five men appeared, each holding guns aimed at her head. She dropped the rope she had been using to drag the sleigh with and raised her hands in the air.

Colonel Ivanov pushed through the group and looked down on Eden, his face filled with distaste and she wasn't sure whether it was directed at her or not.

"Eden," he greeted cooly, "It's been over twenty-four hours."

"There was no way to contact you, sir," she defended herself, but remained respectful, the strong New Yorkian accent still hadn't faded from her voice, "the helicopter was blown up."

"Blown up by what?" He snapped at her.

She gestured to the sleigh she had been pulling the weapons along in, "a HYDRA agent blew it up with one of these."

"HYDRA?" Questioned Ivanov, "was the base not abandoned?"

"No, sir," she explained, "I think it was a HYDRA safehouse. There were only two or three people inside, they were studying the weapons."

He looked at the sleigh with the usual steely coldness expression in his eyes.

"Take her back inside," he ordered one of the guards before turning to address her, "once you're changed and ready, we'll have a discussion."

Eden's eyes widened ever so slightly, hearing the hint of threat in his voice. Stiffly, she nodded and allowed herself to get shoved back inside the Nunivak base. From the outside, it looked just as dirty as it was inside. It was buried in a side of the hill with a dark, grey, unattractive and unreflective metal door acting as an entrance. Printed onto the door, however, was the large U.S seal as well as a the bold, red, white and blue flag blowing in the wind. She glared at it under her eyebrows with a hidden hint of scorn in her gaze.

She was escorted inside and into the women's showers, there being only three women at the base, it wasn't exactly a large or particularly clean shower room. But Eden knew it was not her place to file a complaint, just the thought of telling Ivanov of he terrible living standards was scary enough.

She put on the base uniform, being glad to finally be rid of the thick, winter furs that had weighed her down when she had her mission. However, the uniform wasn't particularly comfortable either. It would itch her back and neck, and was decorated with the obnoxious camo pattern, that was pretty useless in the desolate, icy environment of Nunivak. As with everything else in the base, the U.S. army seal was printed on the left hand side, right on top of the chest. The material often felt too light, no where near warm enough to keep her anywhere near an average temperature inside the base that lacked central heating of any kind.

She took one glance at herself in the mirror before she left. She had aged quite a lot from the ten year old she had once been. Her hair was slightly longer, but not so long it got in the way of everything. It was still uncontrollably frizzy, so Eden had no choice but to pin it back. Her once smooth sepia skin was now looked a little grainy and discoloured, maybe a side effect of constant stress or fear. Eden wasn't sure, mental health hadn't been something she had really been permitted to research. There was also the silver line of a scar she had managed to get from somewhere that cut through her eyebrow and ended just above her eye. Her eyebrow wouldn't regrow where it the scar was, making the slit look strange where her skin contrasted heavily with the dark eyebrow hair.

As she left the room, she once again found herself being escorted by the soldier's to Ivanov's office, despite it only being down the corridor, both of the guards giving her basically no room to breathe.

When they reached the room, they shoved her in and locked the door behind her. Leaving her alone with Colonel Ivanov.

"Take a seat, Eden," he said, his voice laced with ice.

He was standing up, looking at her as he leaned against the far wall in his office. Ivanov was a simple man, so he office strongly matched his personality. The walls were a bland beige and the desk was easily the largest piece of furniture in the room and was neatly organised. There were no family pictures or awards hanging up on the wall, nor were there any windows (but they were underground, so windows were pointless). The only decoration was an American flag hanging from the wall, which always got Eden's attention as she never pictured Ivanov as a very patriotic man. Either his grandad or great-grandad, Eden could not remember which one, had been a Soviet spy during the cold war. However Ivanov had ended up being a top-class government official overseeing one of the most top-secret research divisions greatly surprised Eden.

She took a seat, placing her hands on her lap and looking at them instead of at him.

"You do realise you jeopardised everything we've ever worked for," Ivanov said, "if you had stayed at the HYDRA base and waited for us, we would've sent a team over to get you."

"I didn't realise, sir," she said, "I waited there for seven hours and then decided to walk the long way back. I had no way of contacting you, sir."

"Have I not taught you patience?" He hissed, "you could've waited another hour, maybe two, it didn't matter either way because if you had died out there in the snow, that would've been it."

It was obvious that Ivanov didn't care about her or even the mission. It was apparent that he didn't want to lose his greatest success and the fact that he almost did made him uncomfortable. It was almost satisfying, knowing how powerless Ivanov had been whilst she had been trekking out in the snow. Sometimes, she wondered if she should just get herself killed just to spite him and ruin everything he'd worked for. Then again, she couldn't quite muster up the courage to commit suicide.

"I'm sorry, sir," she muttered, looking down at her hands, playing with the threads on her trousers.

"Eden," he began, saying her name sternly, "the mission was complete. Good, that's fine. But you need to understand that you should never put yourself at such risk. If you die, it's game over for us. So, stop acting like an individual and start following orders and _do as I say_."

"Yes, s-" but before she could finish, she felt a harsh slap to the face.

"I'm not finished yet, stupid girl," he grabbed her by her hair, causing her to yelp in pain as she pressed one hand to the side of her face, which now had a red handprint on it. "You listen to me, you do not speak. Understand?"

She nodded shakily, any defiance or confidence she had vanished.

He let her go, letting out a loud sigh like _he_ had it difficult.

"It's times like this, I would call for a re-injection," he had his back to her so he couldn't see the way she flinched when he said this. "You're useless when you're too emotional."

He turned back around and Eden instantly looked away from him, choosing to take interest in a spot of dirt on the desk.

"However, we don't have time for that, we have big plans."

Eden glanced up, curious but still fearful of the words that were laced with a strange sort of sickening ambition.

"Two hours ago, we were informed of some information that may help us located the scepter," Ivanov said slowly, "as you know, the scepter was previously in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D until after the battle at the Triskelion when it fell into HYDRA's hands for good. We've been searching for it for a while, but I do believe we may now know a way to find it. The information we received, however, was that some _unwanted outsiders_ have the information and weren't keen on sharing."

Eden had never been bothered by the whole 'scepter' business. She knew it originally belonged to some God from outer-space, but her opportunities of research had been severely lacking in that area. All she knew was that the research division that kept her as prisoner, also wanted the scepter. Eden didn't like that idea but, as always, she had no place to comment against it.

"It is your job to steal the information and give it to us, make sure any of the unwanted _helpers_ have any copies of it destroyed or wiped."

Eden finally mustered up the courage to look at him.

"As we know, thievery is easily one of your strongest skills. It's time we put it to use once again."

Eden spoke again, but her voice was hardly more than a whisper.

"Sir," she began, "who am I stealing from?"

* * *

 _Somewhere in the Himalayas_

 _2014_

 _Two hours earlier_

"Steve?" Said Natasha, "I think we found something."

Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, was busy punching away some HYDRA goons when Natasha Romanoff contacted him through the ear piece. It was almost two months after the events at the Triskelion and two months since he had last seen his friend, Bucky. Now, he had moved back to New York and was currently helping the rest of the Avengers find the scepter. He and Sam were still tracking Bucky down on the side.

But, right now, Steve was too busy wrestling with a heavy looking man wearing full body armour and holding a gun to be thinking about that.

"Found what?" He asked as he wrenched the gun off of the man and expertly drop kicked him in the head.

"It's like a heavy file," she said, "it looks like it has a bunch of information of different HYDRA bases in it."

"Interesting," he responded through clenched teeth, sending his shield flying through a group of men who were all racing up to him. All were knocked to their feet the moment the circular weapon flew through their legs. "Why would HYDRA just keep that lying around."

"They weren't keeping it 'lying around,' believe me," the redhead said over the ear piece, "had to fight around twenty men just to get a glimpse of this thing."

"So it's important," he noted, raising his shield to block the sudden impact of bullets hitting him. He then threw his shield at the shooter, it rebounded off his head.

"Obviously it's important," she said condescendingly, "we should get outta here."

"Clint," he put his hand to his ear piece as he ducked behind a mound of rocks to dodge incoming gunfire, "what's your status."

"I'm handling it," said the archer, who was currently perched on a high ledge over the HYDRA base they were attacking, shooting down any enemy he could see, sounding quite tense "but I think we got more company on its way."

"Great," muttered Steve, "we need to get out of here."

"Yeah," said Natasha, suddenly sounding like she was in the middle of fighting someone, "no shit."

"Get to the Quinjet," he ordered.

"Yeah, we'll be there," said Clint who now sounded like he was on the move.

The team's short-lived conversation now over, Steve quickly sent his shield flying towards another oncoming group of men before ducking out the way on an oncoming explosive that blew up only a few feet away from him. He turned to the side to find who had thrown it and seeing a sluggish HYDRA soldier without a face mask on, currently chucking grenades at Steve with a smile that gave of the 'crazed lunatic' vibe.

He rolled out of the way as another one shook the snowy ground beneath his feet and silently cursed the situation.

The Himalayas was a desolate, cold, empty place; it was probably very ideal to hide a HYDRA station there. But, when it came to fighting off a bunch of goons, the heavy snow could make movements slower and spotting people more difficult. Not to mention it was freezing.

Steve took the risky move of charging towards the man with the grenades, ducking under his shield as he went. One of them land right by him, but the soldier had been a moron and not realised he had forgotten to pull the needle. And, as quick as his super soldier reflexes would allow him, he picked up the weapon and chucked it right back at him.

A hefty explosion rocked the ground as white snow and brown mud was sent flying into the air along with his attacker. At least that had been dealt with.

He placed the shield back on his back and sprinted to his motorcycle, which he had kept parked not too far away. He quickly sped through the empty, Himalayan land until he came across the Quinjet where they had parked not too far away. Without hesitation, he drove the bike straight inside, coming to a screeching halt.

"Do you have to be so overdramatic every time you do that?" Asked Natasha from the front of the jet, closing the doors behind him.

He stopped off the bike, taking off his helmet, "how did HYDRA manage to get a base that big right under our noses?"

"Guess they've been rebuilding," said Clint casually as he looked through his arrows, "it was always inevitable."

Steve sighed, shaking his head, "you can never seem to get rid of them," he muttered, "not to mention we still didn't find the scepter."

"We got this," Clint gestured to he heavy looking file beside him, "but there's no way I'm reading through all of that. We'll get JARVIS to look at it."

"Or Bruce," said Natasha from the front where she was piloting the Quinjet, "he loves to read."

"Yeah," sniggered Clint in a child-like manner, "and you'd know all about Bruce…"

"Shut up," she snapped, but it was light-hearted.

Steve walked over to the bench and picked up the thick file, weighing it in his hands. To any normal person, it would feel pretty heavy, but Steve couldn't really tell as he lifted the thing with ease. On the front was a the simple HYDRA brand looking up at him.

"I wouldn't, Cap," said Natasha, "that thing is big and reading isn't your strong point."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, flicking through it, "I'm just skim reading it."

"Do you really think HYDRA would just leave information about the scepter in this thing. It's not like it was well hidden." Clint pointed out doubtfully.

"They were trying to sneak it out of the base, though," Natasha pointed out, "and they were pretty adamant about defending it. There's gotta be something in there."

"Where's Nan-vak island?" Asked Steve, struggling with the pronunciation.

"Nunivak island, I think you meant," corrected Natasha, "and it's a large island off the coast of Alaska. It's got a small population, mainly Eskimos I think. Why? Is there a Hydra base there? Something on the scepter?"

"There's a HYDRA base there," said Steve, frowning as he read, "nothing about a scepter, from what I can tell. They are talking about a U.S. government base, though."

"Yeah, there'd probably be one on there," said Natasha, "it's a good spot for a weapons testing facility, I reckon."

"No," Steve shook his head, "they're talking about some kind of experiment there. They're not going into too much detail about it, though."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Cap," said Clint, "the government's always doing something dodgy. As for this thing," he gestured to the file, "we'll worry about the stuff on the scepter first, then we'll get onto the side-quests."

There was a beeping sound and, suddenly, Tony Stark's face popped up on a screen, looking at them smugly.

"How was your mission?" He asked.

"Fine," returned Steve courtly.

"Would've been a lot easier than if you'd there'd been a few more of us," muttered Clint, "the base was way more high-tech than we were expecting."

"Yeah, well, that's what HYDRA does," Stark shrugged, "you all know their catchy slogan: cut off one head and two more shall take its place. A little sinister," he quipped before getting back into business mode, "anything on the scepter?"

"Well it wasn't there if that's what your asking," informed Steve, "but we did get this," he waved the file at the screen, "some information on Hydra bases, we might find something on the scepter in here."

"Interesting," remarked Tony, "they leave a bunch of information hanging around in one, easily printed document?"

"Yeah," Clint said, "not suspicious at all."

"It's the best we got," Steve pointed out, plonking the file back down, "I'll let you and Banner check it out when we get back."

"Uh-huh," nodded Tony, "and please be quick, all this hanging around is making me tense."

"I'm sure it is," Natasha rolled her eyes, "we'll be back, half and hour, tops."

"Alright then," the billionaire smirked, "catch you then."

He ended the video call and Steve sat back down on the bench, the call with Tony had caused him to completely forget about their conversation about the Nunivak base from earlier. He glanced at the file.

"Inform Hill about it," he ordered, "I'm sure she'll want to know."

"Already done, Cap," said Natasha, "just hang on tight we're nearly there."

As they headed back to Stark Tower, any thoughts of strange experiments in government bases on Alaskan islands drifted from Steve's mind as, after a long days work, he drifted off into a well-deserved sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: I had to do a bit of research into Nunivak island to write this. You should check it out yourselves, it a really interesting island! In the next chapter, we're gonna find out a bit more about Eden's past, not to mention a little more about her abilities. Anyway, it's 1am and I can hear foxes screeching outside my house, so I think it's time for me to sleep!**

 **Thanks for reading this chapter, if you liked it, a review would be much appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: The title of this story and the name of part one are both named after a song by a singer I like. If you can figure out who it is, you might figure out that they have a very OBVIOUS link to something (or someone) in this story :)**

* * *

 _Laguardia Airport, Queens_

 _New York City_

 _2014_

After getting a rough night's sleep, Eden had woken up the next morning in Nunivak base for the last time in a while to only be dragged outside to a large, government-owned, aeroplane. It was smaller than a commercial plane but larger than a jet. It, like many things in Eden's life, had the United States seal printed on the side along with the flag printed on the other side.

The interior had been painted a neat, bland beige colour and was furnished with leather seats with plenty of legroom along with a carpeted floor. It was filled with lots of different screens showing lots of confusing information that Eden hardly bothered to glance at, too absorbed in everything around her.

Eden had spent her entire life working for an underfunded branch of the U.S military, this was easily the most luxurious place she had ever been to in her entire life.

But, the awe quickly faded the moment the engine was turned on and they were flying in the air. Any form of travel by vehicle never served her well. It wasn't that she had motion sickness, though that was always a risk, it was the noise.

The roar of the engine that always seemed to clog her ears often at times was worse than Ivanov beating her or yelling at her. It drained all of her senses, making her feel like she was a deaf person. No matter how many overseas missions she went on, whether it meant travelling by boat or helicopter, she would spend the entire journey trying to keep herself sane.

But, at the end of the seven-hour flight from Nunivak to Laguardia Airport, Eden was completely exhausted and doing her best to remain controlled in front of Ivanov, who had spent the entire time on his phone, ignoring her, which she wasn't bothered about.

The airport hadn't been much better either. The place was packed with people jostling and shouting at each other. There was the constant beeping of security and low humming sound of bags on conveyor belts. There was the clattering of suitcases being dragged around the floor and the almost-robotic sounds of employees repeating polite phrases to flyers.

It was almost a relief when Eden realised that she wouldn't have to be dragged through the main, busiest part of the airport. She could only imagine that was because Ivanov probably wasn't keen on letting her being seen out in public. Plus, as it turned out, they had a pretty important person waiting for them at the entrance.

The two armed guards following them, and had also been carrying a bag that contained who knows what, handed the bag to another man, who Eden presumed was a chauffeur, and walked off.

Eden paid little mind to them, instead focusing on the situation at hand.

"Colonel," greeted Secretary of defence, Robert Riley, before turning to the girl,"Eden."

"Riley," nodded Ivanov respectfully.

"Sir," was all Eden said, glaring at her step-father with as much indifference as she could muster.

Obviously unbothered by Eden's curt tone, Riley turned to talk to Ivanov, putting his arm around his shoulder as they followed the chauffeur out of the airport, Eden only a few steps behind them.

"It's good to see you, old friend," Riley said, "you spend too long cooped up on that island. It's good for you to get back to the city every once and awhile."

"I put my country before my own needs," came Ivanov's usual, humourless reply, "but I suppose it is nice to be back."

Eden wasn't sure what he meant by that. She was pretty sure he was referring to mainland America as a whole, or he could just be possibly talking about New York, though Ivanov didn't strike her as a New Yorkian.

No, in fact, it was Eden who was at home here. She had been raised in small, overpriced flat right in the heart of Manhattan, it was where she had developed her thick accent from. The fact that she struggled to remember growing up here almost saddened her, it felt as though her entire life had revolved around being stuck on that icy island.

New York was a far better than Nunivak or any other place she had carried out a mission. She had lived there with both her mother and father at the time. Then, of course, her father died and her mother ruined her life.

"Hey," Riley punched Ivanov's shoulder in a friendly way, though the Colonel just looked confused, "at least, whilst you're not working, you can go sightseeing."

"I'm not here to sightsee."

"Really?" Riley turned back to Eden, his tone mocking, "and what about you, Eden? You planning on climbing up the Empire State building to see the view?"

She looked at him cooly, trying to repress the fear mingled with loathing that came to mind as his cold, brown eyes met her.

"If that is the mission, sir." Was her steely reply.

Riley looked away from her but kept talking, "I've bet you've missed home, haven't you?"

She didn't reply, but Riley seemed to find this even more amusing.

"Is she usually this quiet?" He asked.

"She mouths off less, nowadays," said Ivanov, "though, discipline is still required."

Eden felt more uncomfortable than she usually felt with Riley around. Not to mention the loud noises of the airport alone were still taking some getting used to. It had seven months since Riley had last visited the Nunivak base, and she had been pretty content living life without him. Sure, she still had Ivanov as a constant abuser, but at least he was consistent. Riley, on the other hand, could be doing light-hearted taunting in one moment, and the next he would be beating her for saying something that wasn't completely correct. Unlike most people, he was impossible to predict. And that made being around him tougher.

Then, it got worse.

"How is the wife?" Asked Ivanov, "It has been a long time since I last heard from her."

"Marilyn's fine, her job at Manhattan hospital is going well," Riley said, "though, I insisted she took a day off to greet the two of you."

Eden looked up in alarm, what? Marilyn? Here?

Neither of the men looked in her direction as they spoke. The three exited the airport, much to Eden's relief, only to enter a completely black car. Eden realised how out of place she looked compared to the other people walking down the street.

Whilst the people around her were dressed casually, running up to people in the parking lot and hugging them as though they hadn't seen each other in years, whilst other people waited impatiently for buses or yelled at taxis drivers. It was vaguely bewildering to see people dressed in something that wasn't thick layers of coat. Some of the women wore tight jeans or short skirts along with cropped t-shirts. Some men wore a casual hoodie and low waisted jeans, so loose that they were close to exposing their butts. Others wore smart looking business suits and held briefcases. Despite the fact that Eden had seen many people wearing nice suits, including Riley, the way these _normal_ people wore them with such nonchalance and a lack of self-importance, it almost made her feel uneasy.

She stuck out like a sore thumb in her all-camo outfit. She could've been mistaken for an army soldier if it weren't for the fact that she wasn't armed and she was a skinny, thirteen-year-old girl.

When they reached the car, a beautiful, dark skinned, dark haired woman stepped out. She wore a completely black dress, showing off her slim body. Though, despite her seemingly stunning looks, the woman did not carry herself with much confidence and instead greeted Ivanov in a more sombre manner.

"Colonel," she said, "it's been a while."

"It has, Marilyn," nodded Ivanov, "I hope you're doing well."

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, "I'm doing fine."

The entire exchange felt stiflingly formal, and Eden kept her eyes locked on the ground, doing her best to hide the hatred she felt for the woman in front of her.

"Get in the car," ordered Riley.

She gave a sharp nod and stepped inside the vehicle, preparing for the journey ahead of her.

* * *

 _America's Defense Research Facility, Midtown Manhattan_

 _New York City_

 _2014_

The tower they were staying acted as a slightly fancier prison for Eden than Nunivak, this one actually had a window, granted it was a pretty small window. The Research Facility was used by multiple companies so people good sit around and talk about weapons instead of actually doing anything, those were the politics.

The top few floors worked as almost like a hotel for those who needed to stay over several nights for some reason or another. Ivanov, Riley and _Marilyn_ were staying there. Eden was shut in a small cell-like room further down the building, just across from a lab.

As she sat in the room, staring through the small window which allowed a limited view of the street below, she could feel the spite build up inside of her.

How dare _Marilyn_ , of all people, have the audacity to show up _here_ , how dare she have the audacity to look to her or be in her presence. Eden was afraid of Riley, but she was not afraid of Marilyn, she just despised her.

Her mind was swirling with unbridled hatred and hazy memories and, without even meaning to do so, Eden drifted off into a restless sleep.

" _He's a sick, twisted man," spat her uncle at her mother, "and you're too blinded by his money and 'charm' to see what he's doing to your daughter!"_

" _He's not doing anything to Eden, Quinn, you're delusional," spat her mother, "you've always hated the government."_

 _Eden, only six at the time, watched the two with a vague sort of indifference, sitting at the kitchen table watching the exchange with blank eyes. A long time ago, she might've been upset or saddened by this fight, now she couldn't even really react to it._

" _Are you calling me a conspiracy theorist?" Her uncle looked bewildered, "you've seen the proof, Marilyn! You've seen the injection scars on her arm! You know for a fact that he snuck into her room the other night and injected that damn experiment he was working on into her!"_

" _I don't know what you're talking about," said Marilyn firmly._

 _Uncle Quinn was, in fact, her father's brother, not her mother's. Back when Eden's father was still alive, Quinn lived with them, and her mother didn't have the heart to kick him out after he had died. Now, she was probably regretting that._

" _If you don't like him, then you can leave," Marilyn shook her head, "Robert and I are getting married in two months time. If you don't want to be there for me, fine, I don't want you there anyway."_

" _Quade wouldn't have wanted this," Quinn shook his head._

" _Quade is dead," Marilyn told him, "Eden needs a father, Robert is a good parent."_

" _Really? Because, as far as I'm concerned, Mr Robert Riley only wants to use her for his own gain. And if you're too blind to see that, then you're an awful mother."_

" _Do you want to take that back?"_

" _I'm speaking the truth, Marilyn, you know what your fiance is doing but you refuse to see it."_

" _Get out."_

" _Marilyn-"_

" _Get out, Quinn!"_

Eden jolted awake, hitting her head on the wall she had originally been resting on. Her back hurt, it was probably her fault for falling asleep sitting up when the bed had only been a few metres away. Slowly, she got to her feet and let her stiff legs carry her to her hospital-like bed and lay down, looking up at the ceiling. She had only fallen asleep for a couple of minutes and still had the entire night to just lie there and do nothing.

She wasn't keen on falling asleep after her dream. She hated it when she dreamed about her past life. It reminded her of happy times, times she could never get back.

It was all her mother's fault. All Marilyn's fault.

But she had a big mission tomorrow, and had other things to think about.

So she fell asleep.

* * *

 _Avengers Tower_

 _Midtown Manhattan_

 _2014_

"JARVIS," said Tony, handing the thick file to Banner, "scan the file and upload a copy to your data bank. And scan for any mentions of a sceptre as well."

It was the file that Steve had taken from the HYDRA base in his mission only a few hours ago. He hadn't bothered to read it, and had just been interested in resting for a bit before even talking about the file. Tony had been very happy to get his hands on it. As well as Doctor Bruce Banner, who was flicking through it idly.

"Sir, it appears that most of the file seems to be written in some form of code," JARVIS said in his cool, British accent, "there is no direct mention of a sceptre or any other kind of alien tech. But, it does seem that there are several codenames for different objects."

"Can you decipher the codenames?" Asked Tony.

"I will attempt to match some of them up to any of HYDRA's previous files, sir," JARVIS concluded.

"Great," the billionaire muttered, "do it, then, tell us when you've figured it out."

"He's right," said Banner, who was sitting on a stool as he flicked through the file, peering at it through his glasses, "this part of the file is talking about a base on 'Neptune,' which I highly doubt, and are referring to the asset called 'the snowman.' Best guess is that they're talking about the location of The Winter Soldier. But, then again, later they talk about 'Snowmen,' and I'm fairly certain there's only one Winter Soldier."

Every member of the Avengers team practically knew that the Winter Soldier was Bucky Barnes, Steve's old friend from before he went under in ice, and they also knew what had happened in D.C. Each had done their best to pitch and assist in finding him, but not even JARVIS had been much help.

Tony glanced at the file, noticing that most of it seemed to be filled with nonsense words like 'roadrunner' and 'little red riding hood' that were randomly sprinkled throughout.

"Sir," began JARVIS, "none of the codenames found in this file have matched up to anything related to HYDRA. It seems that these codenames act as the last line of defence against anyone who has stolen the file."

Tony popped a grape into his mouth and hummed thoughtfully, "they're smart, but they obviously didn't expect the file to fall into my hands." He said that last part smugly, "how many pages are there?"

"There are one hundred pages, sir," said the A.I, "and 375000 words."

"How many codenames are used?"

"Approximately two hundred and thirty-six, most are repeated throughout several times in the file."

"Can you decipher any of them? Particularly any that might refer to a sceptre?"

"I can try, sir, but without any reference to what they could mean, it may be difficult."

"Just try, JARVIS," said Tony, sitting down, "I'm sure Banner and I can figure it out from here."

The doctor looked doubtful, "two hundred and thirty-six codenames, Tony, any one of them could be about the sceptre. I don't think we're gonna have much luck."

"We can only hope for the best," Tony patted him on the back, "c'mon, Banner, it's not like we have much else to do. Plus, it's always great to have a bit of challenge in life."

"Alright then," sighed the doctor, though he still looked reluctant.

As the two studied the file (three if JARVIS was included), none of them really knew that, right at that moment, one man was desperate to get his hands on that file. No matter what it took. And he had the perfect person to fetch it for him.

And Eden needed to prepare for the most difficult job of her life.

* * *

 **A/N: Just to let you know that the file is sort of acting as a MacGuffin in this story, and obviously won't change the entire plot of the MCU as we know the Avengers don't find the sceptre until age of Ultron.**

 **As for the plot, it's moving slowly, but it will begin to get moving in the next few chapters. I'm looking forward to writing Steve again!**

 **Please, leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This chapter took longer for me to write than I intended, whoops. Anyway, things are about to get moving in this chapter! As I'm writing this, my water stopped running and it's killing me. I went to the toilet and then afterwards realised that I can't flush it and I can't wash my hands either... I'm ready for death.**

* * *

 _America's Defence Research Facility, Midtown Manhattan_

 _Midtown Manhattan_

 _2014_

"Is she ready, Colonel?" Asked Riley.

"I believe so," answered Ivanov, "she has trained her entire life for this."

Secretary Riley eyed her cautiously.

"You've learnt everything necessary, correct?"

Eden looked straight back at him, face as blank as a slate. She was doing her best to control herself in front of the man. "Correct," came her emotionless reply.

"Good," Riley looked at her, "and you know what you have to do?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you will head out now," informed Riley, "when you shut off the power, you will have twelve minutes precisely to fetch the file. If anyone gets in your way, get rid of them. Understand?"

She nodded, "yes, sir."

"There's a black car outside waiting for you," Riley said, "get in it. Another car will be waiting for you once you've completed the mission. If you fail, you know the consequences."

Eden swallowed the lump of fear in her throat and nodded again, doing her best to not let the threat get to her. She was dressed head to toe in black; black leggings, black top, black shoes and even a black mask that covered the lower part of her face. Topped off with black gloves and her equally black, frizzy hair tied into a ponytail, the only parts of her less exposed was the dark skin of the upper half of her face. Her green eyes were also exposed.

The car drive to the location was short and gave Eden little time to absorb the scenery.

Whilst the streets were not quite deserted, it was still quieter than they would be in the day. The sky was dark and the moon was a distant dot in the sky, covered every once and a while by thick grey clouds floating over it. There were no stars in the sky, there never were in New York.

The car came to a halt in a small car park just underneath the building, most likely used for construction workers, for when the tower was being rebuilt. It was practically deserted now, nothing but the lone black car and an ancient, rusty pickup truck with some wooden beams lodged in the back which looked like it hadn't been driven in years.

As cooly and calmly as possible, Eden stepped out the car, pulling the mask up so the fabric covered more of her face. The car drove away and Eden was left alone. She knew exactly what she was doing and had an exact plan on where to go.

There was a small, rickety elevator that didn't go up very high, only to the twentieth or so floor. The elevator hadn't been used since last year, when the tower had been going under reconstruction. So, it was fair to say that no one would be monitoring in here. She pressed the button and the elevator began to rise at a slow pace.

Once she finally reached the twentieth floor, the doors creaked slowly opened revealing a mainly abandoned room with useless construction materials laying around. However, in this room, was also a control panel for the building's power.

Eden walked over to it, eying the room to make sure no cameras were watching. Of course, the control panel was a high-tec, difficult to work, piece of technology and required clearance. Easily, Eden ripped off the covering to the control panel, revealing several complex wires.

Remembering exactly what she had to do, Eden precisely and expertly tore several of the wires apart. Then, with a steady hand, she picked up the ripped ends of two different wires and pressed them together.

She had twelve minutes starting from that moment.

* * *

 _Avengers Tower_

 _Midtown Manhattan_

 _2014_

Steve had been awake when the power had gone out. He hadn't been sleeping well lately so had dedicated his time into doing further investigations into the whereabouts of his friend which he had long thought dead. It wasn't going very well. Even after the majority of Hydra's secrets had been spilled for the world to see, there was still almost no information on the Winter Soldier at all.

Sam had also been helpful, tracking down leads whilst Steve was wrapped up in the Avenger's lifestyle. Not to say that being an Avenger made it any more difficult to search for Bucky, in fact, their raids on Hydra bases had been extremely useful to for finding information which had been very few and far between. However, Steve felt like he had hit the jackpot the moment they found the file, it was up to JARVIS to make sense of it now.

And all these thoughts were swimming around Steve's mind as he browsed the internet on his computer (which he was getting the hang of) to find more information.

So, when his laptop shut down and the one lamp he had switched on in his room turned off, Steve was instantly suspicious.

"JARVIS?" He asked.

No reply.

"JARVIS, what's going on?"

Still, no reply.

Suddenly, Steve became aware of how deathly quiet it was. It wasn't like there had been sound before the power turned off. It was two o'clock in the morning, the building had been dead silent. But, in the sudden darkness and emptiness, the silent felt more obvious, even deafening.

At first, Steve's mind imagined that it could possibly be a power cut affecting the entire city. Looking out the window told him otherwise.

The New York skyline was still awash with the humming of cars and bustle of people, the bright orange lights shining from windows now seemed blinding compared to the pitch black of Steve's room. The sound of the city was very distant and hardly louder than a whisper. Steve couldn't help but feel awfully vulnerable.

Shoving those feelings to the back of his mind, Steve grabbed his shield and left the room. Eyes scanning everything he saw. He wasn't sure what the rest of his team were doing. Most would be asleep, he imagined, but there was always the chance that at least one of them would be awake and prowling around.

The silence was helpful in a way that allowed him to pick up any sounds or disturbances, however, it was almost impossible to see, especially in the darker areas of the tower.

Steve arrived at the main lounge area in Avengers tower and took a quick glance around. Quiet, no one was there.

"Cap!" Exclaimed a voice behind him.

Steve turned to look at Tony who, for once, wasn't looking very smug.

"Be quiet," Steve said, "there could be someone in here."

Tony snorted, "yeah, right. Whoever managed to knock out the power is gonna get a whole load of ass-kicking from me when I find them. I shouldn't be the one sneaking around my own tower, they should."

Steve ignored this, "can you get the power back on?"

Tony shook his head, "but, in an event like this, the power will be rerouted to a different energy source and reactivated."

"How long will that take?"

"Well, let's see…" Tony looked at his watch, "whoever deactivated the power, did it around a minute ago, meaning we have eleven minutes until the power comes back on."

The super-soldier looked at him warily, "you seem pretty sure that someone did this, it could just be some freak accident."

"Unlikely," Tony shook his head, "I designed this building to be powered by the arc reactor. The arc reactor is still up and running, someone has just cut of the wires downstairs, meaning that the arc reactor can't power up the building. I mean, they have to physically cut the wires to do it. There's no way it's a freak accident. Then again, if a person did it, they would have to be an expert in this area. It's a really delicate process."

"If a person cut the wires," Steve began, "does that mean they're still in the building?"

"Obviously."

"Why would they want to break in, though?" Steve wondered aloud, "what could they want…?"

Both men came to a realisation at the same time.

"I'll check the lab," said Steve, "that's where you left it, right?"

Tony nodded, "I'll go with you."

"Hang back on this one," he warned, shaking his head, "you don't have your suits or anything to power them. I can handle this. Just wake up the others."

Tony shrugged, "whatever you say, big-guy."

Steve edged closer to the lab, careful to watch everything around him. He was still gripping his shield, eying the dark lab room, looking for any sort of movement but his eyes could make out very little in the hazy blackness, the only light coming from the city outside.

He heard a heavy clattering sound coming from somewhere in the main, big room, where parties and such were usually loud. Forgetting the file and lab temporarily, Steve quickly rushed to the room where he had heard the sound. The windows were much larger in here, allowing the room to be flooded in an eerie, strange, orange glow, making it ever so slightly easier to see. He walked over to where he had heard the sound and knelt down seeing something on the floor.

He narrowed his eyes, picking it up. It was a screw which, obviously, had come from somewhere. Steve frowned, the sound he had heard had definitely been pretty loud, it couldn't just be some tiny screw? Could it?

His eyes then traveled to what looked like a metal grate colour, which had fallen of something nearby. He then looked up. Of course, it made sense. Someone had unscrewed the cover of the vent when they had used it to sneak in here, that had been the sound he heard.

But if Steve was in here, where was the person who broke in?

He looked up. Whoever had broken in was smart. Not only had they disabled the power so they wouldn't be detected when walking in, they also had distracted Steve, giving them enough time to get to the lab.

Steve ran back to the lab, checking inside. But there was no one there. Breath held, Steve walked over to the table where Tony and Bruce had left the file for JARVIS to decode.

It was gone.

Steve looked around again, there was still no one in here. Or maybe there was, and they were just hiding.

Whoever it was most likely had the upper hand in this situation as they probably knew exactly where he was and was watching him right now.

He tightened his grip on the shield and looked around for what felt like the one hundredth time. But, this time, he could've sworn he spotted the shadow of a figure in the corner of his eye. It had only been for a millisecond before they vanished again, but he was sure it couldn't be his imagination.

That meant that, whoever it was, was in the lab and hadn't managed to escape back through the vent.

Steve had the upper hand now.

Acting like he hadn't seen the figure, Steve walked out of the lab and into the large room again. This time, instead of inspecting the vent, he walked over to a different section of the room, one that was hidden in shadows.

He waited, being sure not to make a sound. How much time did he have left until JARVIS automatically came back online. Stark had said eleven minutes, how much time had passed since then? Steve did a quick bit of figuring out and estimated that he had around seven to eight minutes of being in this darkness.

He hoped he wasn't wasting time.

Then, to his surprise, the robber, whoever they were emerged. It was hard to make out any sort of face or feature in the dark but Steve could tell from the basic figure that it was female dressed in all black. She glanced around her and he was surprised to see that, whoever it was, had green eyes that greatly stood out against the shadows. They did not hold any signs of hostility, nor did she seem to see him as he remained there still as a statue. In fact, the eyes seemed more scared if anything, a surprising look to see on someone who had just expertly broken into Avengers tower.

She glanced back up at the vent and down at the metal grate cover on the floor.

Steve then noticed that one of her hands was pressing something to her chest. That was it, the HYDRA file.

She was clinging to it for dear life, as if it were the most important thing in the world and, right at that moment, it was, to both the girl and Steve.

Then, Steve shifted slightly. It hadn't been a movement he had intended to do. In fact, he hadn't even realised he had moved as his posture hardly changed and he heard no sound.

The robber, however, instantly shot up in alarm and spun round to pinpoint his location only a split second after he had moved.

Steve was taken aback by this, a little impressed that whoever it was was able to pick up the slightest movement, a little annoyed that he had given himself away.

Her eyes locked onto him and he heard the unmistakable sound of a gun clicking and suddenly the weapon was being pointed at him.

"I know you're there," she said with a surprisingly think New Yorkian accent, "you'll probably want to come out where I can see you before I shoot you in the head."

So, she had managed to pinpoint his location based on sound but still couldn't see him in the pitch black shadow. He weighed his options.

"I'd step out if I were you," she threatened, "my best guess is that this gun is pointed right at your heart right now if I've estimated right."

Steve did notice that the gun was pointed exactly at his heart and sighed.

The girl was hardly intimidating. Whilst her features were hard to make out, it was apparent that her eyes held a certain amount of fear, which only decreased her threats. Whilst her stance was firm, ready to attack, she was so skinny the wind could easily knock her over. Though it was impossible to tell in the darkness, Steve could tell that the girl was almost too skinny.

He stepped out, choosing the better option.

She didn't relax, she only seemed more frightened by his appearance.

Now that he was a step closer to her, Steve almost wanted to facepalm himself for not realising before. It made sense. The skinny complexion, the short height…

"You're a kid," he said, his voice struck with realisation and a certain amount of horror.

She didn't reply but her wariness only increased.

"What does a kid want with a HYDRA file?" He asked, feeling as though he were on to something.

She still didn't reply. The file was still held tightly in place against her chest with her left hand, right hand still holding the gun.

"Look," he said, relaxing and crouching slightly, "has someone put you up to this?"

Her eyes flickered down to the file, the vent, the window and back to Steve. She didn't seem keen on answering any questions and only seemed to be more freaked out by his friendly nature.

Painfully, Steve was struck with the memory of his old friend, Bucky, also known as the Winter Soldier. A man brainwashed and forced to kill to please HYDRA. However, this girl didn't seem to be brainwashed in the slightest.

"Just give me the file," he said slowly, "and we can sort this out."

"No," she said sharply then looked at herself, surprised, as though she hadn't meant to say it.

"I'm sorry?"

"I- I can't give you the file," she said, confidence growing.

He forced himself not to narrow his eyes, not wanting to arouse suspicion. "Why not?"

She didn't say anything back, but he noticed the way she pulled back a sleeve and glanced at a watch. It looked like she was also aware that she had a time limit. How much time left? Steve wasn't sure. If he could just keep her distracted for long enough.

"You're not giving me much choice," she said warningly and Steve inwardly urged someone else to show up. He didn't know what to do with her and definitely did not want to hurt her.

He looked at her, "would you really shoot me?"

Steve heard the gun fire and raised up his shield. It ricocheted off of it and buried itself in a wall not too far away. When he lowered his shield, he could already see the girl attempting to scramble up the wall and back into the vent.

Thinking fast, he threw his shield so it dug into the part of the vent just above where her fingers were. This startled her, so she fell back to the ground and took one look at him, as though surprised to see him alive.

She grabbed her gun and shot it at the window. With all of Stark's high-tec defences down, the window fell to pieces in sharp glass shards on the floor. Steve felt a massive blast of air hit him the moment it smashed and hardly had time to comprehend what was happening until he saw her race to the window.

Panicking, he left his shield where it was in the wall, and raced after her, easily catching up with her and grabbing her.

"Get off me," she said, voice almost a snarl.

"What are you gonna do?" He asked, voice tense, "jump out? It's a long way down."

He was gripping her wrist, though it was the one holding the gun, so he was cautious to leave it so it was pointing away from him. Still, the HYDRA file remained close to her chest and she was not willing to let it go.

She glared back at him, trying to feign some sort of anger as she desperately tried to pull her arm out of his tight grip. Now that he was closer, he could make out her face better. She had dark skin which made her muddy-green eyes pop. The mask that had covered the lower part of her face revealed a mouth pressed into a thin line. Her hair was frizzy and tied tightly up into a ponytail, but still bounced around whenever she moved.

"Get off," she repeated.

He could feel the wind coming from outside, making the entire room far, far chillier than it should be. Whilst he was hardly affected by the cold at all, it seemed that the girl was too busy concentrating on wrenching her arm out his grasp to even realise how freezing it was.

"Listen," he said, "if you just calm down, we can talk about this."

She glared at him, though she was not as furious as she had been before. The fear creeping back up into her eyes.

"Can you tell me your name?" He asked, starting slowly.

She hesitated and glanced at the file pressed against her chest, and then back up at him. "Eden." Was her short answer.

"Okay, Eden," he didn't want to be too direct with his questioning, "how old are you."

She answered this one quicker, but still hesitated, "just turned thirteen two months ago."

Steve felt a sense of relief, if he could get the girl to relax then she would possibly calm down enough to hand the file back over and tell him who she was working for. It was obvious she was working for someone, a thirteen-year-old would have little reason to steal from the Avengers. Not to mention, the girl looked too scared to be doing this out of her free-will.

"Eden," he said, "how much are you willing to tell me about what you're doing?"

She frowned at him, "I'm stealing the file."

"For who?"

No reply.

"Do you work for HYDRA?"

Much to Steve's surprise, the girl let out a single bark of laughter before stopping, as though it were the most ridiculous thing anyone could ever say.

"No," she shook her head.

"Who do you work for?"

She glanced nervously at the floor this time, Steve noticed that she had stopped trying to pull away from him, but he wasn't willing to let her go just yet, for fear she might bolt off. He could tell her mind was working in overdrive and noticed her sneak a glance at her watch to check how much time she had left. He guessed it wasn't much.

"Eden, I want to help you."

"If you wanted to help me then you'd let me steal the file," she said bitterly.

"I don't want to help the people you work for," he explained, "I want to help you."

"Who says I don't want the file for myself?" She pointed out, but it was weak and he could feel her starting to get antsy again.

"You're scared," he stated, "what are you scared of?"

"I'm not scared!" She retorted in a very teenage-like manner, though the nervous look remained. "I just need the file."

"You need the file?" He said doubtfully, "you yourself?"

"Yes!" She snapped loudly, "I need it because they'll inject me otherwise!"

She closed her mouth instantly after she said it and stared at the file in her hands for the longest time. It was impossible for Steve to judge what was going on in her mind, but the girl seemed to definitely regret what she just said.

"Who's 'they'?" He asked gently.

She didn't look up, "please, just let me take it."

"I can't," he told her.

"Please!" She yelled it this time and Steve was surprised to see that she was crying.

"Eden, I can help you get out of this situation-"

She shook her head furiously, "they'll come back. Just let me go. If they-"

"If you just tell me who they are," Steve cut her off, "then you won't need to worry about them, okay? We're the Avengers, we can sort it out."

"No, you can't!" She was practically screaming at him, tears streaming down her face but she wasn't sobbing, "you don't know who they are. They're more important than you. Anything you do, they'll overrule you."

Steve finally felt like he was getting somewhere, "they're important?"

Eden didn't even seem to realise what she was saying, "of course they're damn important! They're part of the-"

Just as she was about to let the big information slip, the lights turned back on.

Eden froze, like a deer trapped in headlights.

"No," she seemed to forget he was here, her grip on the folder loosening ever-so-slightly, "no, no, no, no, no, no…"

"Eden-" he began but was cut off.

"What happened to my window?" Tony Stark entered the room, followed by an angry looking red-headed assassin. It took him a few moments to assess what was going on. "Why is there a teenager here?"

Steve's grip on Eden's wrist slackened for a split second as he turned to face Tony. It turned out, this was the only cue she needed.

Steve turned around just in time to watch her drop out the smashed window.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, the plot is really moving quickly now, maybe a bit too quickly. But hey, I had alot fun writing this scene!**


	5. Chapter 5

_Avengers Tower_

 _Midtown Manhattan_

 _2014_

"Is she dead?" Said one voice.

"No, Tony, of course, she isn't dead. She's just unconscious." Said a female voice

"Who is she, Steve?" Said Tony, who Eden naturally presumed to be Tony Stark.

"She said her name was Eden," said a second voice, "she was the one who broke in and shut off the power."

"She's a teenager," pointed out Stark, "there's no way she could do that. JARVIS would've caught her before she could shut it off."

"Maybe there's a blind spot in the building," suggested the woman.

Stark seemed dismissive of this, "of course there isn't, Natasha, don't be ridiculous. I designed this building."

Eden could feel her head pounding, her muscles aching and her body refused to move. What had happened? Her brain felt fuzzy and blurry. Every memory seemed distant and unfocused, almost like it was out of reach. For a second, she wondered whether she had been injected with the serum again but she couldn't remember seeing either Riley or Ivanov. In fact, the last person she could remember seeing was a tall, muscular blonde man. He hadn't said his name but, even in her slightly bleary state, she could make an educated guess to him being Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America.

"She was trying to steal the file," said Rogers, "or, whoever she worked for wanted her to steal it?"

"Who does she work for?" Said the woman who was likely to be Natasha Romanoff, "HYDRA?"

"She said that she didn't."

"Could she be lying?"

"Maybe."

"Why did she jump out a window?" Interrupted Stark.

Of course, she had jumped out the window. She had forgotten that. Now that she was slowly regaining consciousness, she was beginning to remember things now. She remembered panicking and taking a step back to fall out the window until her head had hit something hard and metal. Why had she even tried to jump out the window, was it an accident or purposeful? She struggled to remember.

"Maybe it was an accident," said Rogers.

"Didn't look like it from where I was standing," said Romanoff.

Eden was struggling to follow the conversation, her mind constantly drifting and she had almost caught herself slipping back into unconsciousness. Had she jumped out the window on purpose? Why would she do it? It seemed entirely unreasonable, jumping out the window would mean killing herself and she couldn't think of a reason she would want to die.

And then it hit her.

"She was panicked," Rogers agreed, "but she's so young. Why would a teenager want to jump to their death?"

"Teen suicide rates are surprisingly high," said Stark.

"Plus, she doesn't strike me as a 'normal' teenager." Said Romanoff.

Eden wasn't listening. She was in so much trouble. What would happen when Ivanov found her? Or Riley? She had failed the mission, and she knew the consequences of a failed mission. She would rather die than get injected again. In fact, even now she found herself wishing that she hadn't been caught by whatever it was that caught her. Better to die.

"What about the file?" Asked Rogers, "did that fall with her?"

"Yeah," said Stark, "after one of the Iron Legion bots caught her, I sent it down to go fetch the file."

"How did it have enough time to catch her?" Said Natasha disbelievingly, "JARVIS had only just come back online."

"You'd be surprised at how quick they work," he said smugly, "besides, it's the Iron Legion's job to protect civilians. It was just doing its job."

Eden's mind was reeling. As far as her research took her, the Avengers had worked for SHIELD up until they had fallen, now they worked for themselves, basically. But, if the government asked them to hand her over, she had no doubt that they would. She couldn't trust these people. So, despite having regained a clear mind and full movement of her body, she remained still and listened.

"Lucky catch, though," Stark continued, "just before she hit the ground. She knocked herself really hard on the head though. Probably has a concussion or something."

"Mr Stark," said an electronic, British male voice, "I would like to inform you that the girl is uninjured and is fully conscious, and is also listening to the conversation you are having right now."

Eden, instantly knowing she had been given up, opened her eyes. She was staring at the ceiling, which did take a couple of seconds to come into focus. When she sat up, she noticed a worried looking Rogers crouched beside her, a suspicious looking Romanoff sitting on a chair nearby and Stark standing close, arms folded and his expression dubious. She was in the big room, the one with a lot of windows that looked out onto the city. It was a lot brighter than it had been with the power back on, making her have to squint for a few seconds before her eyes got used to it.

"Are you okay?" Asked Rogers.

She looked at him, surprise flickering on her face before it vanished, replaced with suspicion and ambivalence. "Yeah," she said shortly.

It was a lie, her senses felt overwhelmed as the light hit her eyes, causing her head to pound like someone was beating a drum in her brain. Her body still felt a little weird and fuzzy, like it wasn't her own.

"Really?" He asked, "because you just jumped out of a window."

"I didn't-" but she closed her mouth, unsure of what to say.

"Why did you steal the file?" Asked Romanoff in a very forward manner, "it doesn't belong to you."

"Doesn't belong to you either," she pointed out scornfully, "I don't know what's in the stupid file. I don't care."

"Then why steal it?"

Eden shrugged.

"Did someone want you to steal it for them."

"Obviously."

"Then why not do it themselves?"

"Because I'm a better thief," said Eden.

"We caught you," pointed out Stark.

She turned to fix him with a pointed glare. "You did after I shut off the power in your entire building for twelve minutes. Not many people could do that."

"Yeah, how did you do that?" He asked suspiciously, "only a few people in the entire world know how the electricity in this building is routed, and you are not one of them."

"I think you put yourself too much on a pedestal," said Eden with a dismissive snort, "it obviously wasn't that hard to get the information on your building."

"The only people who should have the information are the people who helped build the tower," pointed out Romanoff, "and probably the government too."

Eden bit the inside of her mouth when she said that.

"And I can't see how either of those groups would go around sharing that information to a thirteen-year-old," continued the red-head, "or whoever hired you."

"I wasn't hired," she snapped without realising what she was doing.

Rogers, who had still been regarding her in concern, had an expression of deep worry on his face. "Whoever you work for," he said, "are they making you do this?"

She said nothing.

He sighed, "we're not going to get anywhere if you don't tell us something."

She looked at the floor, biting her lip, but still remained silent.

Rogers sighed and looked back at Romanoff who just shrugged. "She's sworn to silence or she's just too scared to say anything or both. Either way, she probably won't speak, not for a long time."

Eden narrowed her eyes, not liking the way they talked about her like she wasn't even there.

"Well," said Rogers, "you're safe here, so you can-"

Whatever he was gonna say was forgotten as he was interrupted mid-sentence by the obnoxiously loud sound of a ringing phone. All three other occupants of the room turned to scowl at Stark who looked sheepish only for a second or two before he got out the phone and pressed _accept_ to whoever he was calling.

"To what pleasure do I owe," said Stark, "Mr Riley?"

Both Romanoff and Rogers must have noticed the way Eden had instantly tensed in fear and had exchanged confused looks with one another before they continued to listen to the conversation on the phone.

"Mr Stark," greeted the unmistakable voice of Riley, "it's been a while since we last spoke and, honestly, this conversation was not planned."

"I figured," snarked Stark, "it's two o'clock in the morning."

"I was awake," Riley continued, "and I couldn't help but notice the power shut off in your building. Is there an issue."

Stark didn't seem suspicious of the questioning at all, "yeah, we're looking into it."

"Did someone break in?" Asked Riley, but there was a leer in his voice that unsettled Eden.

Stark glanced back at her, and Eden violently shook her head, wordlessly begging him not to tell Riley. She couldn't even bear to imagine what Riley would do or say if he found out that she was sitting in a room with some of the Avengers after having jumped out of a window because she failed a mission.

Stark, much to her relief, seemed to catch on. "No, it might just be an electrical malfunction. I'm having JARVIS look into it."

"Hm," hummed Riley, sounding doubtful but not argumentative, "I see. Well, contact me if you get any more information regarding the situation."

"I'll be sure to," said Stark dryly before dropping the phone call.

All three adults turned to look at Eden, each one of them looking more stern than anything else. She shifted uncomfortably beneath their glares but did her best to keep face.

"What does the secretary of defence have to do with all this?" Asked Stark.

She glared at them with defiance before realising and giving up. She had nothing left to do but tell them the truth. There was no other way out of this.

"He's my stepfather," said Eden, though the word 'stepfather' was pronounced with a shocking amount of disgust and hatred.

"I'm guessing you're not a big fan of the man," remarked Stark.

"You could say that."

"I don't understand," said Rogers, "you're stepfather made you steal the file?"

Eden wasn't keen on answering that.

"Look," said Stark when they realised Eden wasn't going to say much more, "I've known Riley for a while now. He's always seemed like a trustworthy guy with an important job. Not my best friend, I would say, but he's-"

"He's using you to get to the scepter," interrupted Eden, fuelled by her hatred towards Riley, "that's why he wanted the file."

"You're gonna talk now?" Said Natasha drily.

"If it means I can slander Riley then, sure, okay," she spat his name, "after my _real_ dad died when I was six, my mother married Riley because he was rich."

"Marilyn is your mother?" Said Stark before tilting his head, "No, actually, I can see the resemblance."

"You've met her?" She frowned.

"Once or twice," he shrugged, "she seemed okay."

"You don't really know her," Eden snapped back, "she knew full well what Riley was doing to me and did nothing. Even when my uncle, her brother, confronted her about it, she kicked him out rather than deal with the fact that her husband is an asshole who only does stuff for his own gain."

It was Rogers' turn to frown now, "what did Riley do to you?" He asked softly.

"Experimented on me," she said, "because of some stupid project."

"Riley is the secretary of defence," said Stark, confused, "why would he experiment on a kid?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" She snorted bitterly.

"I'll do it then," he said, "I'll call him now."

He held up the phone, as though mocking her.

"No!" She yelled, standing up, ready to smack the phone out of his hand.

Rogers blocked her and sent Stark a stern look, "drop it, Tony, she obviously isn't prepared to tell us anything yet. For now, how about we relax, it's late and we're tired and-"

"Are you telling us to go back to bed, Cap?" Asked Stark, eyebrows raised.

"No," the Captain denied, "all I'm saying is that it's late, we're tired and probably not thinking straight."

"I'm thinking straight," interrupted Eden.

"You jumped out of a window," pointed out Romanoff.

"I knew what I was doing," she shot back.

"Like I said," Steve looked at her, "tired. Now, do you want to get checked over? We have a couple of doctors-"

"Doctors?" Said Eden suddenly.

"Uh," Steve glanced around, "yeah, doctors."

"I'm fine," she said, "I'm completely fine. I don't need to see a doctor."

She still didn't feel it though. Her eyesight was still blurry and she strained to make out any detail. The bright lights completely overwhelmed her, making her senses feel bleary and nonsensical. Not to mention, she was beginning to feel a bruise form on the back of her head from where she had been knocked unconscious.

In fact, with the adrenaline caused by fear and angry ebbing away, she was beginning to feel rather unsteady. Her limbs felt pretty shaky and it took almost all of her effort to manage to stand on two feet. She did her best to hide it, unwilling to show weakness in front of strangers.

"Are you sure?" Rogers said, "you look pale."

"I'm fine," she lied.

"Okay, but-"

His voice faded into the background and Eden looked around. Since when had the world started spinning. It wasn't a nice feeling, she felt worse than she already was.

The lights turned into a mesh of white and yellow colours as she felt her head hit the floor.

* * *

"I checked," said Tony, "and everything in the last twenty-four hours has been wiped from JARVIS. I mean, the codewords he was attempting to decrypt from the file, any footage he recorded, all of it. Gone."

"Did she do that?" Asked Steve, arms crossed, gesturing to the girl who was currently lying on a hospital bed with a tired looking Banner and Dr Cho looking over her.

"I reckon so," said Tony with a sigh.

"I don't understand," said Steve, "this is Avengers tower and she just breaks in like it's nothing. How?"

"That's the interesting thing, see," Tony stood up slightly straighter, "I thought it was suspicious too, and I got JARVIS to do a quick scan of her. Turns out she likely has a photographic memory, but that's not the weird thing."

"What is?"

"The girl's brain works differently, her neurons seem to fire information at an unnaturally quick rate," Tony pulled up a screen of something scientific that Steve couldn't comprehend.

"What does that mean?" He asked.

"It means her senses are increased," Tony said, "her reflexes are faster than a normal human being, though not as quick as yours. Her hearing, smell and sight are far better than any of ours, that's for sure. Not to mention, she seems to be an incredibly fast learner; her body and adapts to new circumstances quickly. She could probably spend a day in France and be fluent in French by the end of the day, that's the kind of stuff I'm talking about."

"And all this is artificial?" Asked Steve, "like, she wasn't born this way?"

"Definitely not," Tony said firmly, "she's got some sort of serum in her, though it's not one neither me or JARVIS have ever seen before. It's sort of like your super-soldier serum," Tony patted Steve's chest in a friendly manner as he said it, "but less intense. You know what I mean?"

Steve frowned deeply, "so she wasn't lying when she said Riley had been experimenting on her."

"I guess not," Tony still looked unsure, "I still don't know _how_ Riley would've managed to get his hands on a serum like this. Does the government know about this?"

"Is she Riley's daughter?"

"Step-daughter," Tony said, "there's some information online about Riley and his wife, something brief about there being a daughter being brought over from a past marriage, but that's about all JARVIS could find. Though, I do remember Riley once mentioning something about a stepdaughter, couple years ago."

"Are you two close then?"

Tony laughed and shook his head, "Riley over ever talks to me when he wants something from the Avengers. I only ever talk to him when I need something from the government."

"What about this Marilyn woman, her mother?"

"Marilyn Riley is on her second marriage," said Tony, "from what I could find, she was married to a Desmond Lewis up until around 2010 when he died. Apparently, she prefers to keep quiet, not showing up at many of her husband's fancy parties or important meetings. I met her once not too long ago at a dinner party with Riley. She seemed quiet but not evil."

"Eden didn't seem to like her much," said Steve.

"My best guess is that she's not a big fan of her mother for marrying Riley and allowing her to experiment on her."

"What kind of mother would do that?" Steve shook his head, "she's thirteen."

"As far as JARVIS can tell, Eden's had the serum in her since she was eight."

"Eight?" Steve shook his head, "that's ridiculous."

Tony's frown deepened, "the serum, whatever it is, has been re-injected back into her maybe around four, five times. I can't tell why they've done that, though, it's not like the serum's effects appear to fade."

"She did mention something about someone injecting her if she got something wrong," Steve said, "she seemed scared."

"That's all the information I could get," shrugged Tony, "we've also got the pressing matter of the scepter."

"Riley wants it," stated Steve, "I don't know what for. We know HYDRA has the weapon and if Riley doesn't know where it is, it also means that he's likely not part of HYDRA."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Probably bad," sighed Steve, rubbing his temples, "it means extra work for us."

"Speaking of extra work," said Tony, "what are we gonna do about her? Technically, her legal guardians are Marilyn and Riley."

"We're not sending her back there," Steve said, appalled at even the thought, "there's no don't they're abusive."

"Yes, but what can we do, Steve?" Tony said, "take this to court? If Riley is really involved in this, this could get nasty pretty quickly, it means the government could be in on it too. But, I'm with you on this, we can't let her go back to them."

"We'll wait for her to wake up," concluded Steve firmly, "we'll see what she says and, once we've got the truth out of her, we'll figure out what to do…"

"Sounds like a plan," the billionaire then grumbled something and yawned, "but, in the meantime, I'm gonna go to sleep."

"Yeah," said Steve, "night, Tony."

"Night, Cap."

Once he was gone, the blonde super-soldier turned back to look at the unconscious Eden and sighed. Who was she? And what was really going on?

* * *

 **A/N: I finished writing this chapter yesterday but my dumbass fell asleep. Anyway, who's excited for the new infinity war trailer tomorrow? I sorta don't want to watch it because they'll probably spoil some major things in it but I don't have enough self-control to not watch it!**


End file.
